Experimental Investigation of Basalt fibre as a

strengthening material in Concrete

Ramya. S[1],Nataraj. M[2], Rajini. J[3],Prakash.V[4],Bhuvaneswari. M[5]

1,2,3,4 B.E student, Department of civil Engineering, Gnanamani college of Engineering, Namakkal, Tamil
Nadu, India.
5 Lecturer, Department of civil Engineering, Gnanamani college of Engineering, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, India.

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to experimentally investigate the applicability of basalt fibers as a strengthening
material in concrete. The corrosion of steel reinforcement and crack on concrete are the main problems that shorten the
expected service life of concrete structure and may lead to catastrophic failures. Basalt fibres have the property of
reducing corrosion and crack. Here an attempt to investigate and compare the mechanical properties of basalt fibre
reinforced concrete of M20 grade concrete with that of conventional concrete of M20 and M25, grade of concrete. Fibre
reinforced concrete has been a most widely used solution for improving tensile and flexural strength of concrete. In this
paper effect of inclusion of basalt fibre of different ratios in concrete is studied. The fibre has been used in different
ratios such as 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4% and 0.5% to the volume of concrete. For each ratio three specimens of cubes,
cylinders and one prism has been casted and cured. These specimens were tested at 7,14 and 28 days for compressive
and split tensile and flexural strength. It has been found that the BFRC attains maximum mechanical properties at
0.30%.

Keywords-Natural sand Tensile strength, Compressive strength

I.
INTRODUCTION
Concrete is known as the construction
material most used around the world. Plain concrete
is prepared by mixing cement, sand (also known as
fine aggregate), gravel (also known as coarse
aggregate) and water with specific proportions.
Mineral admixtures may also be added to improve
certain properties of concrete. Thus, the properties of
concrete regarding its strength and deformations
depend on the individual properties of cement, sand,
gravel, water and admixtures. Plain concrete after
preparation and placement needs curing to attain
strength. It is strong in compression as the
aggregates can effectively carry the compression
load. However, concrete is weak in tension, as the
cement holding the aggregate can crack, causing
concrete to break.
Fibre reinforced concrete has been a most widely
used solution for improving compression, tensile and
flexural strength of concrete. Fibres are usually used
in concrete to control cracking due to plastic
shrinkage and to drying shrinkage. They also reduce

the permeability of concrete and thus reduce

bleeding of water. Some types of fibres produce
greater impact, abrasion, and shatterresistance in
concrete. The different types of fibres available such
as glass fibre, steel fibre, polypropylene fibre, nylon
fibre, carbon fibre etc.., But the Basalt fibre has
more advantages than other type of fibres.

I.1 BASALT FIBRE

Basalt is a type of igneous rock
formed by the rapid cooling of lava. It is found at a
depth of hundreds of kilometres beneath the earth,
and it reaches the surface as molten magma. When
magma reaches the surface, it cools down and can be
mined as a raw material. Basalt is quarried, crushed,
washed and then melted at 1500 C. The molten
rock is then extruded through small nozzles to
produce continuous filaments of basalt fibre. Basalt
fibre is a material made from extremely fine fibres
of basalt, which is composed of several minerals
extracted from the basalt volcanic rock. High quality

fibres are made from basalt deposits with uniform

chemical makeup.
Basalt fibres have excellent characteristics:
for instance, they can bond chemically with cement.
When water is added to cement, hydration starts,
resulting in the production of two main components,
which are:

Basalt fibre has a higher working temperature and

has a good resistance to chemical attack, impact
load, and fire with less poisonous fumes. Some of
the potential applications of these basalt composites
1. CSH - Calcium Silicate Hydrate
are:
plastic
polymer
reinforcement,
soil
2. Ca(OH)2 - Calcium hydroxide
strengthening, bridges and highways, airport
pavements, Tidal zones like docks, industrial floors,
Cement Hydration Equation:
High pressure vessels (e.g. tanks and gas cylinders),
heat and sound insulation for residential and
Cement ( C 3 S , C 2 S ) + H 2 O CSH gel+Ca(OH )2industrial buildings, bullet proof vests and
retrofitting and rehabilitation of structures.
Basalt Fibre Reaction:

1.2 SCOPE AND OBJECTIVE:

Ca(OH )2+ Si O2 CSH gel

To increase the mechanical properties of

concrete such as compressive strength,
tensile strength and flexural strength.

Basalt fibre has a high content of

SiO2, which reacts with the Ca(OH)2 produced by
the hydration of Portland cement. As a result, it will
form more CSH that is responsible for increasing the
general strength of the concrete.

To decrease the crack and corrosion.

Basalt fibre is a multi-performance

fibre. It has several advantages for example, it is
non-corrosive, has high thermal resistance to heat,
and it is a waste and renewable material, as well as
very light in weight, Its effect on the properties of
concrete is similar to glass, but better in terms of
thermal and alkaline resistance for concrete. It is
cost effective, and easy to disperse when mixed with
concrete and mortar. Therefore, basalt fibrereinforced concrete serves the functions of
reinforcement and crack resistance, and can extend
the life of construction in the fields of housing,
bridges, highways, and roads. The current main
sources of basalt fibre are east European countries,
such as Russia and Ukraine, and now China.

II.EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM
1.3Materials used
Cement: The cement used was Ordinary Portland
cement (53Grade) with specific gravity of 3.15,
initial and final setting time was 35 and 550 mins
respectively. Its chemical composition is given in
Table 1.

TABLE 1: CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF CEMENT AND BASALT

FIBRE (%)

Oxide

Cement

Basalt fibre

Cao

60-67

5.3-7.8

Sio2

17-25

51.6-57.5

Al2O3

3.0-8.0

16.9-18.2

Fe2O3

0.5-0.6

4.0-9.5

MgO

0.5-4.0

1.3-3.7

K2O
Fig.1 Chopped Basalt Fibre

Alkalies

Na2O

0.8-4.5
0.3-1.2

2.5-6.4

SO3

2.0-3.5

Fine Aggregate: River sand was used as fine

aggregate for the experiments which has specific
gravity of 2.59 and conforming to zone III. Grading
is the particle-size distribution of an aggregate as
determined by a sieve analysis. The sand is sieved
through 4.75mm sieve to remove any particle greater
than 4.75mm size.
Coarse Aggregate: Broken stones having the
maximum size of 20mm with specific gravity of
2.73 was used as coarse aggregate for the
experiment which is clean and free from deleterious
materials.
Basalt fibre: Basalt fibre is a material made from
extremely fine fibres of basalt, which is composed of
the minerals plagioclase, pyroxene, and olivine. The
fibres used in the study are of 16 m in diameter and
12mm in length. Some of the properties of basalt
fibre are given in Table 2.
TABLE 2. PROPERTIES OF BASALT FIBRE

Property

Value

Tensile Strength

4.84 GPa

Elastic modulus

89 GPa

Elongation at break

3.15%

Density

g/cm

532.97

819.76

191.58

1.25

1.92

0.45

III.TEST RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Slump Test:
A slump test is a method used to
determine the consistency of concrete. The
consistency, or stiffness, indicates how much water
has been used in the mix. The stiffness of the
concrete mix should be matched to the requirements
for the finished product quality. Slump test was
carried out on each mix to ascertain workability of
BFRC. The results of slump tests for M20 grade
concrete with and without Basalt Fibres are shown
in Table 4.
TABLE 4. SLUMP TEST

Fibre Content (%)

0
0.10

Workability (mm)
40
37

0.20

32

0.30

27.5

0.40

23

0.50

20

50
40
30
Workability 20
10
0

I.2 Mix proportion:

The mixture proportioning was
done according to the Indian Standard
Recommended Method IS 10262-2009.The target
mean strength of M20 grade of concrete and M25
grade of concrete are 26.56 MPa and 31.6 MPa
respectively. The obtained mix proportion for M20
grade and M25 grade of concrete is given in table 3.
TABLE 3. MIX PROPORTION FOR M20 GRADE OF CONCRETE.

Material

Cement

FA

CA

Water

Unit

Kg/m3

Kg/m3

Kg/m3

Lit

383.16

546.76

1253.26

191.58

1.42

3.25

0.50

M20

425.73
M25

Fibre Content (%)

Fig 2.Slump Test

3.2. Compressive strength test:

Compressive strength is the
capacity of a material or structure to withstand loads
tending to reduce size, as opposed to tensile
strength, which withstands loads tending to elongate.
In other words, compressive strength resists
compression (being pushed together). Compressive
strength can be measured by plotting applied force
against deformation in a testing machine, such as a
universal testing machine. Compressive strength

were measured at 7, 14, and 28 days of testing. The

test results are shown in the following Table 5.

at 7,14,28 day of testing. The test results are shown

in the following Table 6.

TABLE 6. TENSILE STRENGTH

Fibre
Content(%)
0(M25)

7days
(N/mm2)
1.75

14days
(N/mm2)
2.39

28days
(N/mm2)
3.66

1.59

2.07

2.86

0.10

2.06

2.93

4.46

0.20

2.16

3.03

4.62

0.30

2.29

3.12

4.77

0.40

2.23

2.93

4.29

0.50

2.04

2.71

4.14

Fig. 3 Testing of Specimens

TABLE 5. COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH

Fibre
Content
(%)

7days
(N/mm2)

14days
(N/mm2)

28days
(N/mm2)

0(M25)

14.22

18.67

28.00

11.11

16.44

26.67

0.10

14.87

21.78

36.00

0.20

15.78

23.56

39.56

0.30

13.56

22.22

40.44

0.40

14.67

21.33

35.11

0.50

13.77

20.44

34.22

7days
14days
28days
Fibre Content (%)

50
40
30
20
10
0

Fig.5 Tensile Strength

7days
14days
28days
Fibre Content (%)

Fig.4 Compressive Strength

3.3. Split Tensile Test:

The concrete is very weak in
tension due to its brittle nature and is not expected to
resist the direct tension. The concrete develops
cracks when subjected to tensile forces. Thus, it is
necessary to determine the tensile strength of
concrete to determine the load at which the concrete
members may crack. Tensile strength were measured

3.4. Flexural Strength Test:

In the construction and engineering field,
knowing some terms such as the flexural strength of
the material is essential in order to make sure that
the material is strong enough to be used in
structures. flexural strength is defined as the
materials ability to resist deformation under load.
Flexural strength were measured at 28 day of testing.
The test results are shown in the following Table 7.
TABLE 7. FLEXURAL STRENGTH

Fibre
Content(%)
0(M25)

28days
(N/mm2)
2.56

1.75

0.10

2.56

0.20

2.88

0.30

3.84

0.40

2.24

0.50

3.20

5
4
3
2
1
0

construction. It shows effective results so it reduces

cost of steel in construction.
The BFRC gets Bulging after the application of
ultimate load during the test. It shows the holding
capacity and tensile property of basalt fibre and
reduces the crack.
The mechanical strength of BFRC of grade M20
more than the conventional concrete of grade M25.
So, we can use ordinary concrete of BFRC instead
of standard concrete. By this, we can get effective
results in low cost.

28days

REFERENCES
A.

Fibre Content (%)

[1]
[2]

Fig.6 Flexural Strength

[3]
[4]

After the application of ultimate load on

concrete sample, it gets broken. But the BFRC gets
bulging as shown in fig.2. which shows the
holding capacity and tensile strength of basalt
fibre.

[5]
[6]

B.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]

[7]

Fig.7 Bulging of concrete

[6]

II.CONCLUSION
Based on the research studies the following
conclusions can be made:
It has been observed that the workability of
concrete decreases with the addition of Basalt
Fibres.
It shows that performance of concrete higher at
0.30% then it gets decreased slowly. Basalt based
composites can replace steel material in

[8]
[9]
[10]

Books And Is-Codes

M. S. Shetty, Concrete Technology Theory & Practice,
Published by S. CHAND & Company, Ram Nagar, New
Delh
M. L. Gambhir, Concrete Technology (3rd Edition),
Published by The McGraw-Hill Companies, New Delhi
IS 10262- 2007 Recommended Guidelines for Concrete
Mix Design
IS 456- 2000 Plain and Reinforced Concrete - Code of
Practice
IS 516- 1959 Methods of Tests for Strength of Concrete
IS 5816- 1999 Splitting Tensile Strength of Concrete
-Method of Test

Journal
Fathima Irine I.A, Kerala,India(2014) Strength aspects of
basalt fibre reinforced concrete.
Gorde Pravin Jysing, Deepa A. Joshi(2014) Performance
of basalt fibre in concrete.
Sami Elshafie, Gareth Whittleston(2015) A review of the
effect of basalt fibre lengths and proportions on the
mechanical properties of concrete.
MR.Gore Ketan R, Prof. Suhasini M.Kulkarni(2013) The
performance of basalt fibre in high strength concrete.
Reni Mullukattil Lukose / International Journal of
Research in Modern Engineering and Emerging
Technology Vol. 1, Issue: 6, July: 2013 (IJRMEET) ISSN:
2320-6586
Use Of Waste Glass As Powder And Aggregate IncementBased Materials Sbeidco 1st International Conference
On Sustainable Built Environment Infrastructures in
Developing Countries ENSET Oran (Algeria) - October
12-14, 2009
The Open Civil Engineering Journal, 2010, 4, 65-71 65
1874-1495/10 2010 Bentham Open.The Use of Sheet Glass
Powder as Fine Aggregate Replacement in Concrete M.
Mageswari1,* and Dr. B.Vidivelli2
GLOBAL CEMENT to 2020, report on world production
and consumption of cement by International cement
review.(Dec. 2007), 201-203.
Hawkins, G. J., Bhatty, J. I and OHare, A. T., Cement kiln
dust production, management and disposal, Portland
Cement Association, PCA, R&D No. 2737, 2003.
P. C. PARIS and G. C. SIH, ASTM STP 381 (American
Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, 1965)p.
30.